The Enrichment Program supports the overall mission of the Penn DRC to prevent, treat, and cure diabetes. Its goals are to ensure that the DRC investigators from different departments and locations interact frequently and productively, that new scientific knowledge related to diabetes is disseminated to DRC investigators, and that the importance of diabetes research is recognized in the Philadelphia area. To achieve these goals, the Enrichment Program has the following Specific Aims: 1) Disseminate new diabetes research knowledge; 2) Foster interactions among DRC investigators; 3) Catalyze interdisciplinary interactions; 4) Foster the next generation of diabetes researchers; and 5) Increase awareness of the Penn DRC and the importance of diabetes research. The high scientific quality of the Enrichment Program's activities attracts not only Penn DRC members, but other members of the research community to lectures and events that increase awareness of Penn DRC cores and diabetes research. In addition, lay-oriented community events are hosted and designed to educate the public about the devastating epidemic of diabetes, and the importance of diabetes research at the Penn DRC and elsewhere to preventing and curing these diseases. In sum, the Enrichment Program of the Penn DRC plays a vital role in advancing the exchange of knowledge about diabetes, catalyzing interdisciplinary interactions and research in the scientific community it serves, and enhancing awareness of exciting diabetes research aimed at a cure at a time when the disease is rampant and increasingly threatening the health of people in Philadelphia and across the United States.